Anto , I'll be watching Euro 2004 , in fact Im looking forward to it bigtime , Ireland are'nt there , am I a hypocrite? No I don't think so , why , because I love football , especially top class football.Who do I support ? The Sunday league side I play for , after that the only team to piss me off or excite me enough to spill my beer ie the only other team I care about is Ireland. I watch the English premiership because in general its good quality,whenever I get a chance I'll watch a La Liga or Serie A game , I'll watch the champions league games ,in general I won't watch scottish or dutch domestic football ( both of which are regularly available on channels I ve got) why ? because theyre poor quality in general.I love football but theres so much of it about and so little time to watch it all that you've got to choose carefully!! I was brought to Dalymount nearly every week when I was a kid but Id have much rather been watching Brady , Stapelton , Jennings or cruyff , Neeskens , Krol or Bettega , Rossi and Zoff and who can blame me for wanting to watch top class players , the best in the world , players at their prime.I was lucky enough recently to catch Real while on holiday ,beautiful football ,outstanding entertainment,if I had the chance Id watch them every week , why because Im a hypocrite?No because there is nothing more entertaining than watching football being played at the highest level by some of the best players in the world.I don't have a problem with people watching the Eircom league but I do have a problem with people who say if you don't follow the eircom you're a hypocrite.Gimme a break , if you want to spend hard earned cash on second best no problem , I wont.When I go home I never go to any national league games , because Im used to better. Just because its Irish doesnt mean its good or deserves to be supported , quite the opposite in fact , if its ********e or not value for money theres only one way to respond , take your business elsewhere.
Slash, One swallow does not make a summer. Soccer , sport is full of surprises , shocks , unusual results thats why we watch it.Im sure you could pull out more results but on the whole theyd be the exception rather than the rule.Im point still remains that the MAJORITY of the better players in the eircom league would not turn down the chance to move to ENGLISH clubs esp premiership clubs and most probably would jump at the chance to join most SPL clubs. In fact Anto might be able to help here , some English clubs do have sponsorship type arrangements with eircom clubs which allows them first look at promising players if I remember rightly.
the major problem in this country is the lack of coverage of eircom league games,i mean tv3 tryed with eircom league weekly,but let's be honest,that show is an utter disgrace.it makes a total mockery of the el,with rubbish coverage and match analysis thats conducted so poorly and unprofessional,it's embarrassing to watch. also the f.a.i. dont seem to know their audiance,they complain about match attendances,yet will turn around in the same breath and announce a tie to be played at the sametime as a champions league match,which always cuts the attendances on said match day. saying that,summer football is the best thing to happen to the el probably ever,and definately the way forward for irish football.but it needs better tv coverage,to get people up off their arses and out to the games,hell even one game a week on friday nite at 7:45,would make a massive differance,but no,five channels have to show the same episode of corrie at the same time instead....... oh yeah you'll have no problem finding a pub to watch the games in
Well for a start it wasn't one swallow, it was two. It was a two legged match. If Aberdeen were the much superior side they apparently are, they would have done Bohs over in the second leg. They didn't. Shocks happen as one offs, not twice in a row. And the meeting between an EL side before that saw Shels lose to Killie by a goal. Fitness was the only reason they lost, they were at the time part time. That's four matches where the SPL sides failed to show any real superiority over the eircom league sides. Looking at players who've moved over to the SPL shows no gap in class too. Richie Byrne is highly rated over there, he wasn't rated very highly over here at all. Dempsey was no more than average in the EL yet he's over in the SPL getting rave reviews and scoring a fair few goals too. You'd almost think there wasn't quite the amazing gap in class between the leagues some people would have us believe.
Father Ted , I dont agree!! There are a no. of reasons why the eircom is 'pure shyte'. The main reason is that Ireland has a population of approx. only 4 million but are an amazing sporting nation that punches well above its weight in loads of sports , therefore domestic soccer not only competes with soccer from across the water but also has to compete for players and fans with gaelic football , hurling , rugby (all of which have more successful domestic leagues than soccer).Also historically the best players go abroad like many other Irish workers , because of better money and more opportunity. Anto,, England , pop. 55 plus million , of course it can support a larger professional league ,but even so many of their clubs are struggling to survive and get poor support. What other nation of approx 4 million has a successful domestic soccer league?Finland,Denmark,bigger nations Austria , Hungary ?Wales hahaha , Scotland pop approx 5 million? poor domestic league , Holland pop. 10 million poor domestic league,Belgium pop who knows poor domestic league.One exception Sweden ,has managed to develop some sort of decent league even though English soccer is massively popular there. Its easy to say the problem is the suffering paying supporter or lack of paying supporter , produce the goods and you get the crowds its as simple as that.
thanks badger for giving me another point to make.. holland,sweden,norway,denmark,belgium, all have strong doemstic league, with clubs whove won european trophies (ajax,ifk goteborg,anderlecht) or at least competed in latter stages of european competition (rosenborg, brondby,fc kobenhaven,aik solna).but the english league is massively popular in each of these countries. but the people still support their local teams above all else. theyl gladly watch an english team,have their favorite english clubs, buy english jerseys etc but theyl still have their first loyalty to their local team.irish people should be the same. FAO hosscat- there wil be no trouble getting tickets for the Rovers v waterford game. just get there before kick off and pay at the turnstyle- €15for a seat.if your thirsty go to the horse and jockey before the game for a pint (its a 2 minutes walk from the ground,always plenty of Rovers fans there before games). there have been a few excellent games betweeen Rovers and waterford over the last season- namely a 3-3 draw in waterford last season, Rovers coming back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 and then even to miss a last minute penalty which could have made it 3-4 to Rovers. then earlier this season Rovers beat waterford 4-0 in dublin, a stunning free kick from 25 yards from O'Halloran setting Rovers up for a great win,even the 3 other goals were very well worked.Waterford are scoring lots of goals and conceding lots too, and Rovers are playing very well. there are bound to be goals in the next game between the teams.
Rovers are playing well this season, scoring one of the finest free kicks you're ever likely to see against Shels the other week and winning 3-0.
Slash , You've conveniently latched on to the Scottish aspect ,( I find it difficult to agree with u at all I think as poor as the SPL is its a better standard than EL ,granted possibly only because of the presence of the Old Firm)But since I never watch it now because I think its rubbish standard I'll accept your opinion that there isnt much of a diiference in class excepting the Old Firm clubs.However it still appears to be a desired destination for a number of EL players. However you have conveniently never responded to my original point ,that the EL is a feeder league for ELs better players into the ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP , I'll except its not a feeder league into the SPL just so that I dont have to read any more of your 4 swallows means its definitely a summer ****************. Stop nitpicking , the majority of EL players would jump at a chance to play in the English premiership , and would probably jump at a chance to play in the SPL (but I'll scratch that if u insist).Also contradict me if Im wrong but I think a no. of English clubs have got arrangements with EL clubs which in return for sponsorship/money/preseason friendlies gives the English club first look at promising talent.If so and Im fairly sure it is so , its the nearest thing to a feeder league you'll get.
Alright.... Thanks for the info. I'm ready for the Rovers match now- it should be a lot of fun. I can guaranty I'll be "thirsty," so the pub suggestion is also much appreciated.
Finally there is mention of Irish League Football. I thought this entire forum only was focused on the Republic of Ireland's National side. I would LOVE to get into the Irish Football League. Anyone have any suggestions for a yank as to where I should just started? Also which clubs are worth following? I don't have a clue. Thank you very much.
Follow Shelbourne, they're the champions, will be in the champions league this season and have a full irish international in their side. Also if you ever come over you can be gaurenteed a noisey and colourful atmosphere, just look at some of the pictures here. For tracking the league online, check sites like Eleven-A-Side and soccercentral aswell as the offical site of the fai, at fai.ie. They all cover both the international side and the domestic league, a good forum for the Eircom League is foot.ie. Finally, www.livescore.com is a good way of tracking scores from the league online, despite not being an Irish site they're spot on with their scores and are fairly up to date. Tomorrow is the leagues biggest game, Shels hosting Bohs. Bohs have been struggling this year but will be challanging for the title, and could well get it together tomorrow, it's a big big night for the destination of the title really, these games are usually crackers. CelticBadger, I'm not going to deny that the players would love to be playing in the EPL, it's one of the best leagues in the world for christ sake, it doesn't mean the EL is ********e and not worth watching though. It's your loss if you choose to ignore it to be honest.
Anto, I stand corrected , Ive just done a random check on Brondy , apparently their average attendance is 16,000.That is decent support. So simple question why do the majority of Irish not bother to support their domestic soccer league but turn up big time for gaelic football , hurling , rugby heineken league matches , is it (1)because its a top notch league (2)because its got the best Irish players (3)because its poor standard and the majority of the Irish sporting public while they may be 'hypocrites' are certainly no fools Probably (3)
and kobenhaven average 14000.. and planty of other teams average large crowds too in the aforementioned leagues.. they are hypocrites. id support Rovers whether they were as good as Real Madrid or as bad as the craggy island team in the all-priest 5 a side over 75s tournament from a certain episode of fr ted. loyalty matters in football, not how well packaged a certain "product" is fao catfish: shelbourne fans are a standing joke in the league among all the other clubs. check out www.srfcultras.net and www.srfcultras.com for Shamrock Rovers ultras site and forum respectively. the Rovers fans have been consistently the most loyal and hard-core and most clorful supporters in the eircom league of ireland. any other club would have folded by now had they gone thru the same traumatic 18 years that Rovers have. the hoops are the most successful club in ireland, yet weve had it harder than any other club in the recent deades. check out our history, more highs and lows than most rollercoasters! www.shamrockrovers.ie for official site
Slash/Ed + anto eile, Thank you very much for the links and input. I really want to connect with Irish football fans in Ireland. Ireland has some of the best sports and footie supporters in particular in the world. It made me damn proud to watch Ireland and all the TONS of Irish at the WC 2002! What a glorious sight. So how would the clubs in the Irish league compare with the EPL clubs? By that I mean....who is the Man Utd (tons of $$$ and supporters throughout Ireland...loved by many and hated by tons, as well), Liverpool FC (the most trophies and quite popular), Arsenal (the other guys that win) and so on. Compare them the best you can, even if you have to use a NON-English club as a comparision. Just something to give me a picture in my mind. Also any players past or present with the last name of Kinney, Ahern, or Caton (various spellings of this name). Just thought maybe, I could support a family club, if that connection exists. Anything to create/spark a personal connection for me...great kits/crests, passionate supporters, befriending a fellow supporter of the club, SO when my family visits Ireland (which we will definately be doing in the next few years, my wife is 1/2 Irish!). Thank very much. I look forward to exploring all the links you posted and reading all of your responses.